[Poll] Top 5 from April 2011 Season

Historically, April and October have been the bigger and better seasons than January and July season. Meaning we usually see more and better anime released during April and October. But I don't think there has been one that has such a big discrepancy between two consecutive season as this year.

Last season, the new releases are so horrible that I actually consider not to even fill my top 5 spot. I thought for sure the economic downturn has been affecting anime industry and we'll be seeing a steadily decrease in quality of new animes. Then April 2011 season came out, I realized my concern is somewhat unwarranted, because I for one, am again having trouble picking my top 5 for this season because there are too many good animes, not too few.

Ok, enough said, let's go into the real stuff, my pick for top 5 animes for April 2011 season are:

1. Tiger & Bunny
2. [C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
3. Deadman Wonderland
4. Ao no Exorcist
5. Denpa Onno to Seishun Otoko

Let's go down the list real quick, because I have a feeling that there are quite few people would disagree with me, not necessarily on the top 5 pick, rather, the order of top 5.

No. 1, Tiger & Bunny. I chose it to be in the top spot partially due to its quality, more importantly, unlike the others, this is some extremely creative concept. Think about it, we've seen battle in alternate worlds that linked to the real world; we've seen weird psycho conspiracy to force people to fight; we've see the son of devil rises up to defy the devil himself; and we've seen stories about weird people imaging stuff because they lost their memory. But superheros sponsored by corporations and make crime fighting a showbiz? That's some brilliant concept. While I'm optimistic about this anime, I think in order for it to come out on top in the season ending review, this brilliant concept alone would not be enough, there needs to be a good underlying plot like a conspiracy or something. We'll see.

No. 2, [C] The Money of Soul and Possibility Control is just an interesting concept to begin with, especially it started off with a mystery that we all eagerly want to find out what's behind it. Even though Deadman Wonderland is the same way, [C] somehow just attracts me more.

No. 3, Deadman Wonderland, well, I think everybody would agree this one belongs to top 5.

No. 4, Ao no Exorcist, same here, an excellent manga with excellent adaptation, definitely top 5 material.

No. 5, Denpa Onno to Seishun Otoko, I actually went back and forth among this, 

Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai, Hidan no Aria, but ultimately chose Denpa because it's somewhat strange and unique, and there's a mystery to be figured out.

One anime that many would ask why I don't mention anywhere near top 5 is Steins; Gate. I think many think it deserves a spot in top 5. The reason I'm skeptical about this anime actually has something to do with a different anime that is related to it, Chaos; Head. It felt just as suspenseful or even more early on in the series, but it eventually turned into something that I would say is mediocre at best. So far it seems that Steins; Gate is just tracing the same route Chaos; Head took. So I'm afraid it too will turn out to be something not nearly as good as early on.

[New April 2011] Kaiji 2

Japanese title: 逆境無頼カイジ 破戒録篇
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/10271/Kaiji:_Hakairoku_Hen
Download: http://animesuki.com/series.php/1801.html
Genres: Gamble / Psychological
I've watched: 3 episode

Summary: Kaiji once again got into trouble and forced to gamble.

First impression score: 81 - More Gambling Psychology

Personal comments: While there are still some psychology involved, in my opinion, it's not nearly as interesting as the first part of season one. Mostly because instead game strategy, which I'm more interested in, they're playing a game that does not involve any strategy. It's mostly about people's mental activities rather than how to craft a strategy to win the game. But nevertheless, psychology is still somewhat interesting.

[New April 2011] Moshidora

Japanese title: もしドラ
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/9693/Moshidora
Download: http://animesuki.com/series.php/1763.html
Genres: Drama / Sports
I've watched: 3 episode

Summary: A girl became the manager of her high school's baseball team. She accidentally bought Peter Drucker's (who's considered as the father of management theory) management book. So she decide to use Drucker's book to manage the baseball team aiming to win the national championship.

First impression score: 88 - Different

Familiar Voices: Kana Hanazawa (花澤香菜) as Yuuki Miyata. She's the voice behind "Angel" Kanade from Angel Beats! and "Kuroneko" from Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai. Also Youko Hikasa (日笠陽子), best know as Mio for K-ON!

Personal comments: Generally, I'm not too fond of baseball anime. Actually, I think I'm not fond of base in general, because in my opinion, that's one of the laziest sports with most overpaid players. I don't understand why people find baseball interesting. But that's a different topic we don't need to discuss here. At any rate, even though i have this profound feeling against baseball, I nevertheless find this anime somewhat interesting, due to the fact the story is not really about baseball, rather, about how to apply Drucker's management theory to managing a baseball team. That is very interesting.

[Ended] Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica: Amazing!!

Take a seemingly innocent topic, use it to tell a dark and twisted tale. This is such a simple concept, yet in my opinion, no anime in the past has ever achieved anything near what Madoka Magica did.

The brilliance of Madoka Magica lies in which it extracted a very basis of a dark human desire, a desire that is so fundamental that it governs day-to-day life of almost every human being, yet most of us chose to simply look the other way because we are not willing to acknowledge the monsters we are, then twisted them around and presented back to us in the cruelest possible way. The result, is something so shocking, that it makes us want to start question the very basis of human moral value.

Towards the end, while it seems to suffer a slight arrogant brat syndrome, I do like that they actually address the "syndrome" directly by showing she did what she did with the full understanding of the fact her life isn't the only one here at stake by her chosen action. This, in my opinion, is a much better plot device for someone to break the plan and do something unthinkable than a simply being stupid and hot-headed brat.

It is not difficult to predict the story's ending involves someone being in the "God Mode". But this is not the ordinary random "God Mode" most other stories pull. They actually explained fully why or how this "God Mode" could exist. This is indeed a very well thought out plot that is executed perfectly.

Then underneath all these brilliant concept, there's the SHAFT style animation--a very visually intriguing style resembles a piece of abstractionism art. I probably don't have the background qualification to actually comment on how well it's done. But personally, it intrigues me in a very pleasant way.

Final Scoreboard:

Drama: 97 (Highly Dramatic)

Comedy: N/A

Action: 97 (Interesting)

Art/Animation: 98 (SHAFT Style)

Sound/Music: 95 (Good)

Character: 98 (Very Interesting)

Plot: 100 (Great)

Ending: 97 (Very reasonable)

Re-watch value: 80 - It may still be intriguing

Overall: 98 - Best of the Season

Recommendation: With a score like that, you know this is something you must watch, period. While in someone's book, it may deserve to be the sole possessor of the Anime of the Season Award, in my opinion, Madoka Magica and Level E differs fundamentally in its nature. After much thoughts, rather than having one over take the other, I'm simply calling it a tie, which means Madoka Magica too gets the

Anime of the Season for January 2011 Season

 

award. But don't worry, if it does come down to pick a winner from these two for anime of the year, I will choose one. Because only one could be the anime of the year.

[Ended][OVA] .hack//Quantum: Back to the Winning Formula

The .hack franchise has been fallen ever since the original //sign series. So when I saw .hack//Quantum, it was almost shocking because it was not utterly crap.

Ok, that may be a bit harsh, but you have to admit, both .hack//Legend of Twilight and .hack//Roots sucked quite badly. I think the problems might lie in the fact they spent too much time on overemphasizing the made-to-believe game play mechanics, which eventually dilutes the impact the actual story and its characters had on the audiences. 

.hack//Quantum, on the other hand, being a short OVA series, have to compact everything down to fit an entire story in only three normal-sized episodes. So they didn't really bother with any of those lousy explanations for game mechanics and focus solely on the plot and character development. Add in the fact the story is actually semi-decent (for an old and beat up concept), and characters are very interesting and lively (I think much of it has to do with the well-done job by the voice actors/actresses), this has come to be quite a pleasant surprise this once prominent concept/franchise is renewed once again with fresh liveliness.

The story itself actually feels like a mix between .hack//sign and .hack//Liminality, where it took a balanced approach between finding the conspiracy in the real world and trying to save the trapped consciousnesses from the virtual reality. So I think if you ever liked either //sign or //Liminality, you'd probably like .hack//Quantum.

Score: 89

[New April 2011] Deadman Wonderland

Japanese title: デッドマンワンダーランド
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/6880/Deadman_Wonderland
Watch online: http://www.crunchyroll.com/deadman-wonderland
Genres: Action / Supernatural
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: A boy who is accused to a hideous crime of senselessly slaughtering 29 classmates which he did not commit is sentenced to death. He's then sent to a place called Deadman Wonderland special prison where inmates are used for entertainment purpose. 

First impression score: 90 - Interesting

Familiar Voices: Kana Hanazawa (花澤香菜) as Shiro. She's the voice behind "Angel" Kanade from Angel Beats! and "Kuroneko" from Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake ga Nai. But here, she sounds nothing like any of those.

Personal comments: This is another heavy hitter from this season because of its manga's successes. This opening episode is definitely a good start.

[New April 2011] Ao no Exorcist

Japanese title: 青の祓魔師
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/9919/Ao_no_Exorcist
Watch online: http://www.crunchyroll.com/blue-exorcist
Genres: Action / Supernatural
I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: Rin is the son of a priest. One day, he found out he has the ability to see strange creatures. Furthermore, he manages to burst into blue flame himself. 

First impression score: 90 - Intense

Personal comments: This is another one of my highly anticipated series from this season because I was fond of the manga it's adapted from. I can say they've done a real good job on adapting it to anime, at least for this opening episode.

[New April 2011] Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae wo Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai

Japanese Title: あの日見た花の名前を僕達はまだ知らない。
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/9989/Ano_Hi_Mita_Hana_no_Namae_wo_Bokutachi_wa_Mada_Shiranai
Download: http://animesuki.com/series.php/1798.html
Genres: Super natural / Drama

I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: A childhood friend of Jinta passed away when they were very young. Now nobody but Jinta could see a ghost of hers. Now he tries to pull everything together to find out why he is the only one could see her. 

First impression score: 88 - Light yet Heavy...

Familiar voices: Haruka Tomatsu (戸松遥) as Naruko. Even though I didn't quite recognize her character's voice right away, I recognized her singing voice towards the end of episode 1, which sounded very similar to her singing as the Northern Maiden "Fish Girl" from Star Driver. 

Personal comments: I think most of you already know by now that I heavily favor stories with dark and heavy tones, and usually biased toward it when it comes to scoring. But I do think this anime is very successful using a very playful and lighthearted character to create a very contrast for the very heavy atmosphere the story is surrounded with. While it's not hyped up and well known like many other high profile series from this season, I think this one holds great potential.

[New April 2011] Tiger & Bunny

Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/9941/Tiger_&_Bunny
Watch online: http://www.hulu.com/tiger-and-bunny
Genres: Action / Drama / Supernatural / Comedy?
I've watched: 3 episode

Summary: In a city where crime fighting superheros are paid and sponsored by corporations and their heroic actions are broadcasted on TV channel called "Hero TV", being a superhero is more than simply bringing peace and justice to the citizens, it's crime fighting with styles.

First impression score: 95 - Weird, Brilliant, Hilarious, and Heart Warming

Personal comments: This is what I would call creative concept meets brilliant execution. I think this is probably the most refreshing concept I've seen this year. If Justice League is a show about how superheros can run as a non-profit organization, this is a show about how superheros can be run as a commercial organization. On top of that, not only it provides this weird comedic shock value upfront, deep down, it's not all that mindless either--from time to time, it breaks out some heart-warming moments as well. Furthermore, it is just amusing to see how the premise of the show just allows them blatantly do product placements without the "out-of-place" feeling you usually get. This is simply brilliant! I'm awarding it
Best First Impression for April 2011 Season

[New April 2011] C The Money of Soul and Possibility Control

Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/10163/C/characters
Download: http://www.nyaa.eu/?page=search&cat=1_37&filter=0&term=C
Genres: Scifi? / Supernatural?

I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: A mysterious person from a place called Midas bank offers a young man money. In exchange he has to mortgage his "future" to the bank. (huh?!)

First impression score: 90 - Weird and Mysterious...

Familiar voices: Haruka Tomatsu (戸松遥) as Mashu. Although she only had one line in the entire episode, her voice is distinct enough that I immediately recognized that's the voice of Lala from ToLoveRu. 

Personal comments: I have no clue what's going on at the moment. Grant it it's a Noitamina anime, which being a little strange is quite normal. I think this one has potential.

[New April 2011] Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko

Japanese title: 電波女と青春男
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/9379/Denpa_Onna_to_Seishun_Otoko
Download: http://animesuki.com/series.php/1793.html
Genres: Drama / WTF?

I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: A dude came to a city where he'll be going to high school and live with his aunt, who seems to have some weird stuff going on...

First impression score: 89 - Huh?! WTF?!...

Personal comments: This is just...weird. I really don't know what to say at the moment, but it does want to make me watch more to get to the bottom of the mystery. I guess they (story writers) got what they wished for...

[New April 2011][Dropped] Shouwa Monogatari

Japanese title: 昭和物語
Info: http://myanimelist.net/anime/10014/Shouwa_Monogatari
Download: ???
Genres: Historic Drama

I've watched: 1 episode

Summary: Life of people in Japan during 1964, when Tokyo hosted Olympic Games.

First impression score: 70 - Boring...

Personal comments: It's too historical and ordinary. I think its target audience might be old Japanese people...